At the present time, there are many bathroom scales in the marketplace which are described as electronic bathroom scales. However, most of these scales are actually hybrid scales; that is, part mechanical and part electronic. In this regard, the base or load receiving component of these prior art hybrid scales is completely mechanical and quite similar to the mechanical bathroom scales which have evolved over many years. In these mechanical bathroom scales, most of them have a base lever assembly, which is connected to the mechanical dial by a link.
When electronic bathroom scales are manufactured using mechanical bathroom scale technology, some manufacturers anchor the end of the mechanical link, which ordinarily attaches to the mechanical dial, and then incorporate a strain gauge assembly to the link. Other manufacturers allow the link to float or move, but incorporate a linear variable differential transformer (LVDT) system. In either case, by applying an excitation voltage to the strain gauge or the LVDT, a signal is produced, which is proportional to weight, and this can be ultimately converted to a digital read-out of weight.
Presently, there are many different electronic output configurations, especially when the electronic means uses a micro-processor. In this regard, there are voice activated weight displays and information storage capabilities that allow the user to recall and compare present weights with weights measured at an earlier time for the purpose of monitoring diets. However, the performance and operation of these electronic bathroom scales is essentially the same as the prior art mechanical bathroom scales because they still use levers and pivots in the base.
It is also well-known that bathroom scales are notoriously inaccurate and must be placed on a hard surface in order to have any accuracy at all. It is also well-known that the accuracy of such scales changes with time, as a result of corrosion and wearing of parts. Further, it has been necessary in mechanical scales and in electro-mechanical scales to use levers and pivots to scale down a weight to cause the proper dial movement. Friction in the mechanical system of bathroom scales also produces inaccuracies.